BOARD OF TRUSTEES Meeting Minutes Date: February 12, 2015 Utah County Commission Conference Room 100 East Center Street, Suite 2300 Provo, Utah 84606 Board of Trustees Members in Attendance: Jason Bond, Alpine City, Alternate Ifo Pili, Eagle Mountain City, via phone Derek Todd, Lehi City Scott Spencer, Payson City Terry Ficklin, Salem City Rodney Hurst, Santaquin City, Alternate Mark Christensen, City of Saratoga Springs David Oyler, Spanish Fork City, Chairman Larry Ellertson, Utah County Commissioner, via phone Mike Forshee, Utah County Sheriff s Office, Alternate Wendy Pray, City of Woodland Hills, Vice Chair Absent Board of Trustees Members: Richard Nelson, Alpine City Craig Whitehead, American Fork City Nyle Jacobsen, Town of Cedar Fort Mike Geddes, City of Cedar Hills Paul Squires, Elk Ridge City No Current Representative, Town of Fairfield Hale Robinson, Town of Genola No Current Representative, Town of Goshen Aaron Palmer, Highland City Benjamin Reeves, Santaquin City James O. Tracy, Utah County Sheriff Norm Holdaway, Town of Vineyard Others in Attendance: Jim Child, JRCA Architects Howard Anderson, Town of Cedar Fort Deborah Mecham, UVDSSD Executive Director Shantell Staiger, UVDSSD Administrative Specialist Junior Baker, UVDSSD, Legal Counsel 1
1. Call to Order: David Oyler, Chairman David Oyler asked attendees to introduce themselves. 2. Consent Calendar: David Oyler, Chairman 2.1 Approval of Meeting Minutes for December 11, 2014 2.2 Warrant Register for October- December 2014 Motion to approve the consent calendar by Terry Ficklin Second by Mike Forshee 3. Public Hearing: David Oyler, Chairman 3.1 Motion to adjourn public meeting and convene public hearing- Motion to adjourn public meeting and convene public hearing by Wendy Pray Second by Larry Ellertson 3.2 Public hearing on opening the FY 2015 Budget regarding appropriations for Capital Projects- David Oyler indicated the need to spend PTIF funds for the first phase of building the approved new dispatch facility. David reviewed the FY 2015 Budget Revenues that detailed moving funds from the PTIF fund in amount of $1,800,000. Deborah Mecham clarified this will be the only time it is planned to transfer funds from the PTIF funds. She also indicated the balance left in the PTIF is approximately one million dollars. Upon request for any public comment, no comments or questions were presented. 3.3 Motion to adjourn public hearing and reconvene public meeting- Motion to adjourn public hearing and reconvene public meeting by Larry Ellertson Second by Scott Spencer 4. Business Items and Action Items: 4.1 Increasing FY 2015 Budget for Capital Projects- Motion by Larry Ellertson to amend the budget as presented Second by Derek Todd David Oyler indicated the need to decide where to deposit the funds received for the dispatch facility. Derek Todd advised David Sanderson, Lehi s Finance Director who does financial consulting for the District, has recommended having a separate escrow account for building the new facility which would be separate from the operating expenses of dispatch. Derek recommended the District open an escrow 2
account. The cost to do so would be $1500.00 annually which Derek advised would be a small price to pay to protect the accounting integrity of the project. Mike Forshee agreed with the recommendation and gave an example of why it would be beneficial. David Oyler indicated he spoke with the accounting consultant at his city, and suggested to verify that there are not additional fees for every check that is processed. Deborah Mecham conveyed that the $1500.00 annual payment could prolong over a two year period. Motion by Derek Todd to adopt the creation of an escrow account Second by Wendy Pray 4.2 By laws- quorum requirements- Due to the inactivity of several member entity board representatives, the quorum requirement of more than half of the representatives has prevented the ability for the district to conduct business on several occasions. In order to prevent further delay in important district decisions, this proposal is to change the quorum requirements to nine members, as at least nine members have been in attendance at each scheduled meeting. Junior Baker indicated it needed to be determined whether it required a simple majority, two-thirds or three-quarters, to change the by-laws. Mr. Baker determined it requires a simple majority to adopt the amendment. Motioned by Derek Todd to adopt the amendment to the by-laws as presented by Junior Baker Second by Mike Forshee 4.3 Training Re-Payment Policy C008 (new)- The suggested new policy was discussed, including other possible recoupable costs such as salaries, etc., however the general opinion was that going further would prohibit candidates from applying. It was also discussed whether one year was long enough. Deborah stated that the purpose was to ensure the seriousness of the candidate in staying with the job, and that if they were still employed after a year that they would be more likely to continue their employment. Further discussion revolved around the wording of leaves employment, with one suggestion being voluntarily leaves employment. Motioned by Derek Todd to accept the policy as written by Deborah Mecham with the additional wording of voluntarily leaves employment Second by Scott Spencer Additional discussion continued, followed by suggesting that Deborah and legal counsel meet and prepare new language. Mr. Todd rescinded his motion. Motion by Mike Forshee to have Deborah Mecham and Junior Baker bring back a new draft of the policy to the March meeting Second by Wendy Pray Unanimous voted, motioned carried. 3
4.4 Vacation Leave Policy E007 (updated)- The Board discussed their concerns with the policy that included that employees can increase their salaries by 10% with the vacation leave payout. What would the retirement costs be to the District and would this encourage employees to not take vacations? Deborah explained for a dispatcher to take vacation leave, another dispatcher has to work the shift at an overtime rate of pay which increases the overall cost to the District. David Oyler directed Deborah and Mark Christensen to work together to address the concerns the Board has with the policy and report next meeting. Motion by Larry Ellertson to table the policy updates until questions are answered Second by Derek Todd 4.5 Facility- 4.5.1 Dispatch Building Agreements- Deborah Mecham indicated all but four member entities (Elk Ridge, Goshen, Cedar Fort and Fairfield) have signed the Dispatch Building Agreement. She stated that Elk Ridge has the agreement to be approved on their February agenda. She advised that these members do not attend the board meetings with Goshen, Cedar Fort and Fairfield having police services through Utah County. Mayor Howard Anderson, from Cedar Fort, explained his town does not have the monies available to make their payment which would be 7% of their total $100,000 operating budget. It was recommended having Cedar Fort sign the building agreement but have their payments spread out over a length of time. The Board decided against this recommendation due to it not being an option offered to other entities that have already signed the agreement. David Oyler suggested the entities work with the county to see if they are willing to finance the payment under their contracts for police services. The Board discussed the ramifications of not signing the agreement, to include no longer receiving dispatch services from the District but that is not the Boards intent. Mike Forshee indicated he will contact Goshen, Cedar Fort and Fairfield to settle what efforts the County can make for their portion of the facility payment. David summarized the District will require a commitment for each entity with the building agreement signed and all monies paid by the end of the calendar year for the facility. Mayor Anderson expressed his appreciation for the open dialog from the Board. 4.5.2 JRCA report- Jim Child provided a presentation of the new facility design with a preliminary floor plan of 12,724 square feet. He detailed the four different quadrants in the floor plan: training, administrative, dispatch, and IT/Mechanical. He indicated that meetings have been held with staff and board members with the facility having a dispatcher driven design. The main areas of design focus are to optimize natural light with views, acoustics and ergonomics. Mr. Child reported on the security components of the facility. Mike Forshee indicated that the plan for the future is to have a fence around the entire Sheriff s Complex. He stated that the private loop gate would be open during the day but locked at night for public access. Mr. Child detailed the total project construction costs as $4,498,418 which is an increase difference of $132,212 from what was originally budgeted by the facility study totaling $4, 366,206. He indicated that the total technology budget, including design costs, as $945,400. That is a $231,395 increase in the technology budget compared to what the facility study indicated. He directed that one of the reasons the project is over budget is because of a calculation error in the technology section of the original facility 4
study. Deborah Mecham summarized areas where money will be saved. She stated when the facility study was done a year and a half ago, it was planned to move the 911 phone system but now that so much time has passed, the District will be required to replace the outdated phone system. The funding of $231,395 for a new phone system is included in the project costs, but these monies have also been budgeted for in the District s operating budget. It was directed to remove the monies budgeted for a new phone system from the project costs due to them being funded from the operating budget. Deborah indicated $53,000 was saved by leasing the land from the County. She also discussed in the technology area the numbers have been estimated to this point but now the needs have been analyzed showing a decrease. Deborah conveyed money may be saved from the built in contingencies that won t be spent. The Board discussed the contingencies costs and the desire to eliminate change orders. Mark Christensen stated he was not comfortable with starting the project over budget and reiterated the necessity for the project to stay under budget. Jim Child indicated he would reevaluate the numbers and adjust the cost savings that were detailed by Deborah. He confirmed that the project will not go over budget. David Oyler indicated the Board members do not want to go back to their cities and ask for additional money. 4.6 Chairman s report (consolidation) - David Oyler David Oyler explained a meeting he attended with Senator Wayne Harper who was proposing a physical consolidation bill in this legislative session. After he and other city administrators in Utah and Davis County met with Senator Harper they expressed desire to change the scope to functional consolidation. After that meeting the Utah County PSAP managers met and developed a functional consolidation concept based on current and future efforts in Utah County. David presented the document detailing how virtual consolidation will be accomplished. He stated the document was sent to Senator Harper with the objective to model separate physical locations, providing redundancy throughout the county with a virtual consolidation instead. The goal is to provide the best service for the citizens. David advised he feels that Senator Harper approves of the philosophy of an operational consolidation instead of physical. He reported the 911 grant funding for technology may freeze for 12-18 months due to the desire to not spend monies until consolidation is considered. David stated Utah County is already on the same CAD and radio system therefore the difficulties of consolidation would be minimal. 4.7 Director s report- Deborah Mecham Deborah Mecham discussed how busy the North police channel is and the plan to split it in the future, requiring staffing for five additional dispatchers. Deborah indicated after two test scenarios for splitting the North channel were conducted, she had a meeting with the law enforcement leaders in the north end agencies, to discuss the test results. It has been determined they do not want to split the North channel at this time due to the desire to communicate with one another. Instead of splitting the channel, she advised efforts will be made to minimize the traffic on the North channel which will allow more air time for officers to communicate. Deborah summarized the suggested procedures to be used on the North channel. Deborah reported there are three new pieces of legislation that affect dispatch. She advised the first legislation discusses UCA and radio funding which is expected to encompass the 5-year funding of infrastructure, new radios and dispatch consoles. She indicated this legislation would impact the new facility. The second legislation indicates state dispatchers be included on the Public Safety system in the Utah Retirement System, with other entities having the option to include their dispatchers on the system. Deborah indicated there could be budget prohibitions to do so. The final consolidation legislation that was discussed by David Oyler earlier in the meeting, Deborah added that the other four PSAPs in the county were working together to consolidate the 911 phone system and the District has now been included in those discussions. 5
Deborah provided the statistics on calls dispatched and calls for billing purposes for 2014, and another report comparing the amounts against 2013. She indicated it is not her intent to request to increase dispatch fees in the FY 2016. Deborah indicated the District has begun the hiring process again which has been re-assessed and updated to find the right applicants for the job. Staffing problems are universal with other dispatch centers having similar struggles. She discussed that the District has a high turnover rate and informed of reasons why. Deborah advised that the District is having staffing issues due to 20% of the workforce having babies this year and might not return to work. 4.8 Operations Board Report- Operations Board Chairman Scott Spencer reported no issues have been reported to the District since the last meeting in December. The processes are in place for the agencies to submit their concerns. He indicated the District has had a quality assurance program in place for EMS calls, and over the last two months now has implemented a Police Quality Assurance program. He conveyed that this implementation will help the dispatcher to see what they can work on. Scott reported the District is meeting all national standards set by NFPA for dispatching of fire and medical units. He confirmed he has seen great improvements to get units paged and en route. Deborah explained the NFPA standards indicate 90% of all medical calls are to be dispatched within 90 seconds, and 99% within 120 seconds. Fire calls are to be dispatched in 60 seconds 80% of the time, and 104 seconds 95% of the time. For January 2015, the dispatchers had 97% of medical calls out in 90 seconds and 99% in 120 seconds. Fire calls were out in 60 seconds 89% of the time and 104 seconds 97% of the time. 5. Other Business: 5.1 Open Forum and next meeting agenda items- Mike Forshee reported Commissioner Greg Graves will be the new board representative for the county, replacing Commissioner Doug Whitney, with Commissioner Bill Lee as the alternate. 6. Adjournment: 6.1 Next meeting- March 13, 2015- Lehi City Offices A quorum was not present at the meeting to make a motion to adjourn. 6